By the middle of the autumn term, school leaders have something they did not have in September:
patterns.
A pupil who missed two days in the first week may simply have been ill.
A pupil who has now missed every Monday deserves a closer look.
A year group that seemed slightly unsettled in September may now show a clear attendance gap.
Some pupils may already be approaching persistent absence.
Others may not yet appear on a headline list but are moving steadily in the wrong direction.
This makes autumn an important point to review attendance before patterns become deeply established.
The purpose is not simply to produce another percentage for governors or SLT.
A useful review should help leaders answer:
- Where is attendance deteriorating?
- Which pupils need action now?
- What appears to be driving absence?
- Which existing interventions are working?
- Where are school systems creating delay?
Current Department for Education statutory guidance for England expects schools to monitor attendance data regularly, identify pupils and cohorts requiring support and work with families and partners to address barriers to attendance. ([gov.uk](https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/working-together-to-improve-school-attendance?utm_source=chatgpt.com))
This guide offers a practical autumn attendance review that school leaders can use after the first few weeks of the academic year.
Do not start with the whole-school percentage alone
Your overall attendance figure matters.
But it can hide important differences.
Imagine a school reporting 94.8% attendance
That number does not tell you whether:
- Year 7 attendance is strong but Year 10 is deteriorating;
- SEND pupils have a widening gap;
- a small group of severely absent pupils is driving most absence;
- unauthorised absence is increasing;
- one day of the week is particularly weak.
Use the headline as the starting point
Then break attendance down by:
- year group;
- class or form;
- pupil group;
- absence reason;
- day of week;
- individual pupil.
DfE's Monitor your school attendance tool is specifically designed to help schools identify trends, pupils needing support and differences between cohorts, as well as compare current attendance with local-authority and national data. ([gov.uk](https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/monitor-your-school-attendance-user-guide/monitor-your-school-attendance-user-guide?utm_source=chatgpt.com))
Identify pupils moving towards persistent absence before they cross the threshold
Persistent absence is commonly discussed as though it starts the moment a pupil reaches a particular percentage.
Operationally, that is too late.
In DfE statistics, a pupil is classed as persistently absent when they have missed 10% or more of their possible sessions. Severe absence refers to pupils missing 50% or more. ([explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk](https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/find-statistics/pupil-absence-in-schools-in-england/2025-26-autumn-term?utm_source=chatgpt.com))
But leaders should also review pupils approaching 10%
For example:
- 3–5% absence and rising;
- 5–8% absence;
- 8–10% absence;
- 10%+ absence;
- 50%+ absence.
These groups may need very different responses.
Look at trajectory as well as current percentage
A pupil currently at 7% absence after a recent illness may be returning to normal.
Another pupil at 6% may have missed one day every week for the last four weeks.
The second pattern may be more concerning despite the lower percentage.
DfE's 2026 absence-bandings report is designed precisely to help schools look beyond headline absence and understand the distribution of absence across pupils and groups. ([gov.uk](https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/monitor-your-school-attendance-user-guide/monitor-your-school-attendance-how-to-use-the-absence-bandings-report?utm_source=chatgpt.com))
Separate authorised and unauthorised absence
Two pupils with identical attendance percentages may need completely different interventions.
Authorised absence might involve
- illness;
- medical appointments;
- other authorised circumstances.
Unauthorised absence might involve
- unexplained absence;
- late arrival after registration closes;
- absence without sufficient reason;
- other attendance-code circumstances.
The correct attendance code matters because it contributes to the picture of why the pupil is absent.
Do not treat every absence as the same behaviour problem
A child repeatedly absent because of a chronic medical condition requires a different response from a pupil whose family is not engaging with attendance expectations.
The attendance percentage identifies the scale of lost education.
The reason helps determine the response.
Review illness patterns carefully
Illness remains the largest recorded reason for absence nationally.
In the latest published autumn-term statistics, illness accounted for 3.37% of possible sessions in autumn 2025/26. Overall absence was 6.47%, and 18.10% of pupils were persistently absent during the term. ([explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk](https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/find-statistics/pupil-absence-in-schools-in-england/2025-26-autumn-term?utm_source=chatgpt.com))
That does not mean schools should challenge genuine illness
Children will become ill.
The useful leadership question is whether there is an emerging pattern requiring support or conversation.
Look for
- repeated single-day illness;
- absence concentrated around particular subjects or days;
- frequent early collection;
- long recovery periods after relatively minor illness;
- physical symptoms linked to anxiety.
Talk to families before drawing conclusions
An apparently inconsistent illness pattern may reveal:
- a diagnosed condition;
- poor sleep;
- anxiety;
- difficulty obtaining medical support;
- a family transport problem.
The purpose of the conversation is to understand the barrier and improve attendance where possible—not to prove that a child was not genuinely unwell.
Look at absence by day of the week
Day-of-week patterns are easy to miss when attendance is reviewed only pupil by pupil.
Check whether absence rises on
- Mondays;
- Fridays;
- PE days;
- days with particular lessons;
- days following clubs or external commitments.
Do the same with lateness
A pupil may technically attend almost every day while regularly missing the beginning of learning.
Review:
- frequency of lateness;
- minutes lost;
- which pupils are repeatedly late;
- whether the pattern is worsening.
A pattern gives you a better question
Instead of:
“Why is attendance poor?”
you can ask:
“Why are absences twice as common on Mondays in Year 9?”
That is much easier to investigate.
Review pupil groups, but do not stop at group averages
Attendance gaps between groups matter.
DfE guidance expects leaders, trusts and governing bodies to pay attention to cohorts that historically have lower attendance or face entrenched barriers. ([gov.uk](https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/working-together-to-improve-school-attendance?utm_source=chatgpt.com))
Depending on your school, review
- SEND pupils;
- pupils eligible for pupil premium;
- children with a social worker;
- looked-after and previously looked-after children;
- particular year groups;
- other locally relevant cohorts.
Then identify the pupils behind the gap
A SEND attendance gap may be driven largely by:
- five pupils with very complex medical needs;
or by:
- a much broader attendance problem affecting dozens of pupils.
Those require very different strategies.
Averages describe the problem
Individual pupil analysis tells you what to do.
Check whether anxiety or school avoidance is emerging
The first half-term can reveal pupils who found September manageable initially but are now struggling to sustain attendance.
Possible indicators include
- repeated morning illness;
- absence after weekends;
- frequent requests to go home;
- attendance deterioration alongside friendship problems;
- anxiety around particular lessons;
- parents reporting difficulty getting the pupil through the school gate.
Do not wait until attendance is extremely low
Early support is usually easier than trying to rebuild attendance after months away from school.
Investigate the barrier
The issue may involve:
- bullying;
- SEND;
- sensory difficulty;
- academic anxiety;
- friendship;
- mental health;
- family circumstances.
For parent-facing context, the AllSchools guides School Anxiety and School Avoidance: A Parent's Guide and What to Do If Your Child Refuses to Go to School can be useful resources to share.
Review what the school is doing before escalating what families should do
Attendance conversations can become too focused on telling families that attendance needs to improve.
Sometimes the family already knows.
The more useful question may be:
“What is preventing improvement?”
For each high-priority pupil, record
- the identified barrier;
- what school has offered;
- what the family has agreed;
- which external agencies are involved;
- the next review date.
Possible school actions might include
- a named trusted adult;
- a morning check-in;
- SEND adjustments;
- pastoral support;
- help with transport;
- support around friendship or bullying;
- work with health or local-authority services.
The current statutory guidance takes a support-first approach: schools are expected to work with pupils and parents to understand barriers, facilitate support and formalise or intensify intervention where voluntary support does not succeed or is not engaged with. ([gov.uk](https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/working-together-to-improve-school-attendance?utm_source=chatgpt.com))
Audit the quality of attendance communication
Sometimes the attendance process technically works while the communication around it does not.
Review recent messages
Do they sound like:
“Your child's attendance is 89.3%. This is unacceptable.”
or:
“We've noticed that Sam has now missed seven school days this term. We would like to understand whether anything is making attendance difficult and agree what may help.”
The second still communicates concern.
It also opens the door to useful information.
DfE's current communication guidance emphasises partnership
The 2026 attendance communications toolkit says schools and parents share the goal of children thriving and that effective communication should help families feel connected, understood and part of the solution. ([gov.uk](https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/communicating-with-parents-about-school-attendance/a-guide-for-schools-on-communicating-with-parents-about-attendance-accessible-version?utm_source=chatgpt.com))
Check consistency
Parents should not receive completely different attendance messages depending on:
- which year group their child is in;
- which member of staff makes contact;
- how busy the office is that week.
A shared communication framework helps.
Review first-day absence systems
An autumn review should also test operational systems.
Ask
- How quickly are unexplained absences followed up?
- Who makes first-day contact?
- What happens if nobody responds?
- How are safeguarding concerns escalated?
- Are attendance codes being entered accurately?
Check whether responsibilities are genuinely clear
A written policy can say:
“Unexplained absence is followed up promptly.”
But leaders need to know what that means operationally.
Does it mean:
- by 9:30am?
- before lunch?
- whenever somebody has time?
Attendance is also a safeguarding issue
Unexpected or unexplained absence can sometimes be an indicator of wider welfare concerns.
Schools should ensure attendance processes connect properly with safeguarding systems rather than operating as separate administrative functions.
Check whether interventions are actually working
A pupil being “on attendance support” is not itself an outcome.
Review the pupils you were already concerned about
For each one, ask:
- Has attendance improved?
- Has the pattern changed?
- Has family engagement improved?
- Has the underlying barrier changed?
Do not continue ineffective intervention indefinitely
If weekly attendance letters have produced no improvement for six weeks, sending a seventh identical letter is unlikely to be a strategy.
Equally, recognise improvement
A pupil moving from:
70% → 82%
still has serious attendance concerns.
But the improvement may show that the support plan is beginning to work.
Do not allow the headline percentage to hide positive movement.
The AllSchools guide Attendance Strategies That Actually Improve Persistent Absence looks at intervention in greater depth.
Review pupils with severe absence separately
Pupils missing half or more of school require a different level of attention from pupils hovering around 90% attendance.
DfE statistics define severe absence as missing at least 50% of possible sessions. In autumn 2025/26, around 151,000 pupil enrolments in England—2.12%—were severely absent. ([explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk](https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/find-statistics/pupil-absence-in-schools-in-england/2025-26-autumn-term?utm_source=chatgpt.com))
For these pupils, ask
- Who is the named lead?
- When was the pupil last seen?
- What is the primary barrier?
- Which agencies are involved?
- Is there an agreed plan?
- When will it be reviewed?
Avoid generic attendance interventions
A certificate for improved attendance or a standard warning letter is unlikely to resolve complex severe absence.
These pupils may need coordinated work involving:
- family;
- school;
- local authority;
- health;
- social care;
- other specialist services.
Current DfE guidance specifically expects schools and local authorities to work together around pupils who are persistently or severely absent. ([gov.uk](https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/working-together-to-improve-school-attendance?utm_source=chatgpt.com))
Give governors or trustees information they can actually challenge
A governing board does not need a spreadsheet containing hundreds of pupil names.
It does need enough information to understand whether the attendance strategy is working.
A useful autumn report might include
- current whole-school attendance;
- comparison with last year;
- persistent absence;
- severe absence;
- year-group variation;
- key pupil-group gaps;
- main reasons for absence;
- actions already underway.
Include trends, not just snapshots
For example:
“Year 9 attendance is 1.7 percentage points below the same point last year, with most of the increase driven by repeated unauthorised Monday absence among 14 pupils.”
That gives governors something meaningful to question.
DfE expects this scrutiny
The statutory guidance says trusts and governing bodies should regularly review attendance data, including current and historic trends and comparisons with relevant local and national data. ([gov.uk](https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/working-together-to-improve-school-attendance?utm_source=chatgpt.com))
Turn the review into a short action plan
An attendance review should end with action.
Not another dashboard.
Choose a small number of priorities
For example:
Priority 1: investigate Year 9 Monday absence.
Priority 2: contact all pupils currently between 8% and 10% absence.
Priority 3: review the support plans for the five severely absent pupils.
Priority 4: standardise first-day contact across year teams.
Assign ownership
Each action needs:
- an owner;
- a deadline;
- a review point.
Review impact before the next half-term
Ask:
- Did attendance change?
- Did the target group improve?
- Are new pupils moving into concern bands?
The review should become a cycle:
identify → understand → support → review.
A practical autumn attendance review checklist
Whole-school picture
- What is current attendance?
- How does it compare with last year?
- How does authorised and unauthorised absence compare?
Pupils
- Who is already persistently absent?
- Who is approaching 10% absence?
- Who is severely absent?
- Which pupils are deteriorating fastest?
Patterns
- Which year groups have the weakest attendance?
- Are there Monday or Friday patterns?
- Are particular groups disproportionately absent?
- Is lateness contributing significantly to lost learning?
Reasons
- How much absence is illness?
- How much is unauthorised?
- Are anxiety or school-avoidance patterns emerging?
- Are there transport, SEND or family barriers?
Intervention
- Does every priority pupil have a clear next action?
- Are support plans being reviewed?
- Are external services involved where appropriate?
- Are ineffective interventions being changed?
Systems
- Is first-day calling consistent?
- Are attendance codes accurate?
- Do safeguarding and attendance systems connect properly?
- Are parents receiving clear and constructive communication?
Leadership
- Does SLT know the three biggest attendance priorities?
- Do governors or trustees have meaningful trend information?
- Is somebody clearly accountable for each action?
Frequently asked questions
When should schools carry out an autumn attendance review?
There is no single required date, but after several weeks of the autumn term schools usually have enough data to identify emerging patterns while still having time to intervene early.
What counts as persistent absence?
DfE statistics define a pupil as persistently absent when they miss 10% or more of their possible sessions. ([explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk](https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/find-statistics/pupil-absence-in-schools-in-england/2025-26-autumn-term?utm_source=chatgpt.com))
What counts as severe absence?
Severe absence refers to pupils missing at least 50% of their possible sessions. ([explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk](https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/find-statistics/pupil-absence-in-schools-in-england/2025-26-autumn-term?utm_source=chatgpt.com))
Should schools wait until a pupil reaches 90% attendance before intervening?
No. Schools should look at pupils moving towards persistent absence as well as those who have already reached it. Trajectory and repeated patterns can justify earlier support.
Should illness absence be challenged?
Genuine illness should be treated appropriately. The useful question is whether repeated illness absence suggests an underlying medical, emotional or other barrier that requires support.
Should attendance targets be the same for every pupil?
Schools should maintain high aspirations for attendance for all pupils, while recognising that individual barriers and support needs differ. A pupil with a serious medical condition may need a very different plan from a pupil with unexplained unauthorised absence.
Should leaders compare attendance with national figures?
Yes. DfE guidance encourages schools and governing bodies to consider local, regional and national comparisons alongside their own historic trends. ([gov.uk](https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/monitor-your-school-attendance-user-guide/monitor-your-school-attendance-user-guide?utm_source=chatgpt.com))
What if a pupil's percentage is poor but improving quickly?
Recognise the improvement while continuing support. Current attendance may still be a concern, but trajectory helps leaders judge whether intervention is working.
Should governors see individual pupil names?
Usually strategic oversight can be provided through anonymised or aggregated information unless there is a specific governance reason and appropriate data handling for more detailed information.
What if parents will not engage?
Schools should record attempts to understand barriers and provide appropriate support. Current statutory guidance also sets out routes for more formal intervention when support is unsuccessful, inappropriate or not engaged with. ([gov.uk](https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/working-together-to-improve-school-attendance?utm_source=chatgpt.com))
Is a reward scheme enough to improve attendance?
Rewards may form one part of a wider approach, but they will not resolve medical, SEND, anxiety, transport or complex family barriers. The response should address the reason for absence.
What should leaders do with pupils nearing persistent absence?
Identify the pattern, contact the family where appropriate, understand the barrier, agree support and review whether attendance improves rather than waiting for the pupil to cross the 10% threshold.
How often should attendance data be reviewed?
Attendance should be monitored routinely, with frequency proportionate to the pupil and level of concern. High-risk pupils may need very frequent review, while strategic cohort analysis may take place weekly, half-termly or through other agreed leadership cycles.
Autumn attendance data is valuable because there is still time to change the year.
Do not wait until spring to discover that a pupil has quietly slipped from occasional absence into persistent absence.
Do not allow the whole-school percentage to hide one struggling year group.
Do not keep sending the same intervention to a family when it is clearly not removing the barrier.
Look at the data.
Then look behind it.
Identify the pupils whose attendance is deteriorating.
Understand why.
Put support around the barriers that can be changed.
Escalate appropriately when support is not enough.
And return to the same pupils and cohorts a few weeks later to see whether anything actually improved.
A strong autumn attendance review does not end with:
“Our attendance is 94.7%.”
It ends with:
“These are the pupils and patterns we are concerned about, this is what appears to be driving them, and this is what we are doing next.”
